Patriots try to regroup
In the lot outside Gillette Stadium, a minivan was parked with the words “We Miss You, Tom” in big red letters on the rear window. Fans may still fret that New England’s worst beating at home in 10 years could be a sign of more trouble without Tom Brady. But the players act as if it’s simply a minor setback – not a turning point after years of success – something to learn from and not to dwell on.
“It’s gone,” defensive end Jarvis Green said. “We got a loss. We’re 2-1. We can’t do anything about that. We can’t bring it back.”
Coach Bill Belichick gave his players three days off during their bye week before they resume preparations Monday for a two-game West Coast trip against the San Francisco 49ers on Oct. 5 and the San Diego Chargers on Oct. 12.
“If you keep thinking about the loss the week before, you get another loss,” Green said. “So you’ve got to move on.”
The Patriots would love to run from the 38-13 rout by the Miami Dolphins last Sunday that snapped an NFL record 21-game regular season winning streak. They were outgained 461 yards to 216. Matt Cassel, with Tom Brady out for the season with a knee injury, was just 19-for-31 for 131 yards, one touchdown, one interception and three sacks.
He and Brady have had conversations since that game.
“A lot of them just came down to ‘look it happens and there are going to be times when you lose. You just have to stay positive and know that you are going to come out and continue to work hard and get better.’ ” Cassel said.
Cassel may learn the more he plays, but his only two starts since high school came after Brady, last year’s NFL MVP and a three-time Super Bowl winner, was hurt.
Randy Moss’s production is way off – from 22 catches for 403 yards and five touchdowns in the first three games last year to 12 for 163 yards and one touchdown this year. The defense allowed more points in just one game against Miami than the total of 35 it gave up in the first three games last year.
The Patriots were 18-0 last season and outscored opponents by an average of 19 points before losing the Super Bowl to the New York Giants 17-14 on a last-minute touchdown.
The Miami loss left “a bitter taste that we haven’t had to taste too often around here,” fullback Heath Evans said. “It wasn’t a wakeup call. We knew it could happen.”
The Patriots need more than improvement from Cassel.
The defense gave Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington plenty of time to throw and he repeatedly found receivers open over the middle. It also couldn’t stop Miami when the center made direct snaps to running back Ronnie Brown six times. Four resulted in touchdowns.
Are linebackers Tedy Bruschi and Mike Vrabel and safety Rodney Harrison too old? Is promising rookie linebacker Jerod Mayo being exploited by offenses as a full-time starter?
“It was one of the ugliest defeats I’ve ever been a part of,” cornerback Ellis Hobbs said. “The craziest thing about this loss is that not one thing beat us. … We lost it as a team.”
When the season began, the Patriots’ schedule seemed easy. But Buffalo is 3-0 and has two games against New England. Denver (3-0), San Francisco (2-1) and Arizona (2-1) each play the Patriots once. None of those four opponents had a winning record last year.
One presumed strength of the team, the offensive line, has struggled a bit at a time when it must pick up its game because the inexperienced Cassel needs more time to throw than Brady.
“There’s a lot of things we can improve on,” left tackle Matt Light said.
The players have confidence that Belichick will find a way to get them to play better and capitalize on opponents’ weaknesses. They may not even mind that, for the second straight day – and the last practice before their three-day break – they worked in full pads Thursday.
“Football isn’t played in shorts and T-shirts,” Harrison said. “So if the coach says full pads, that’s what we put on. We’ve got plenty of time to rest up.”
Green planned to spend the break in the New Orleans area for the opening of his new restaurant. Then it will be back to business – business as usual, several players say – as they prepare for their next opponent.
And, Evans said, there are no lingering doubts after the blowout about the ability of the team that has won three of the last seven Super Bowls.
“Why would we doubt?” he said. “We’ve done something around here for a long, long time. We’ve been coached the same way. We play the same way. We try to respond the same way. So nothing’s going to change.
“We’re going to keep playing hard-nosed football, and, hopefully, we’ll come out on the winning side most of the time.”
Copyright 2008, Associated Press